Kirovsk Historical Museum with the Memorial of S.M.Kirov and Exhibition Hall

Murmansk Oblast
Sovetskaya str., 9, Kirovsk, Murmansk region
Phones: +7 (815 31) 5-26-68
Web site: www.museum25km.ru

Kirovsk Historical Museum with the Memorial of S.M.Kirov and Exhibition Hall has five halls. Four of them have a permanent exhibition: this is the history of the development of the region, the construction of the city, the military hall and the hall of nature. In the fifth, temporary exhibitions are held.
In the hall, you can learn about the history of the development of the Khibiny mountains, why scientists were interested in the polar tundra at the beginning of the twentieth century, and how the expeditions took place.
A separate hall is dedicated to the construction of Khibinogorsk-Kirovsk. The exhibition reflects the work of Gulag prisoners and freelance workers who built not only the city itself, but also the first Apatite mine and other industrial facilities.
Of particular interest is the hall "Animal world of Khibiny". It is famous for its rich collection of stuffed animals and birds.
In the lobby of the Museum there are paintings by local artists. Among them, the most famous are the honored artist of Russia A. G. Feofilaktov and the unusual self-taught artist N. A. Makarov.
The main attraction of the Museum is the house of geologists, which is also called "Kirov's house". This is a small one-story barrack, which has been preserved since the 30s of the last century. The house was restored in 1978. In it you can see the dining room, the room of the expedition leader and geologists, the room where the drilling masters and workers lived and their belongings: clothes, sleeping bags, furniture.

Kirovsk Historical Museum with the Memorial of S.M.Kirov and Exhibition Hall is one of the oldest in the Murmansk region. It was opened on may 1, 1935 in the house of geologists. In this building, on January 1, 1930, Sergey Kirov held a meeting at which it was decided to build an industrial city.
A small exhibition dedicated to the life and work of Kirov in these places was arranged in the house, and the first Director was Yuri Pertsovich, who made a huge contribution to the creation of the house-Museum. During the great Patriotic war, the Museum's collection was carefully preserved.
When the Museum opened after the war, it became obvious that all the materials about the development of Khibiny in a small house no longer fit. In the 50s, the Museum moved to a new building, which was built according to a special project. The exposure was constantly increasing. The new Director of the Museum corresponded with those who worked in Khibiny before the war and participated in the development of the territory. So gradually unique documents and photos were collected.
In the early 90s, the Museum moved again, and also received the status of a local history Museum. It opened new departments, for example, the Department of nature. Stuffed animals for him were made by the famous master Alexander Ivanovich Flerov. Now the Zoological collection of the Kirov Museum is one of the richest in the Murmansk region.

The first Director of the Museum went to the front as soon as the war began. The order that he left on June 23, 1941 was preserved: "Consider me retired to the ranks of the workers 'and peasants' red Army according to mobilization." Responsibility for the economic and Museum property was assigned to Varvara Fedoseevna Vaganova. A legend has come down to our days about how she laid out all the Museum's property in chests and slept on them. So the woman was guarding the historical values. By the way, after the war, she worked in the Museum for another 25 years.
In the house of geologists, which is the main exhibit of the Museum, the atmosphere of the historical meeting of 1930 is completely recreated. It is interesting that the participant of those events - the geologist who lived in this house, who took part in the fateful meeting - Leonard Borisovich Antonov helped to create this reconstruction.